Stay hinge



June 13, 1967 c. s. GEHRIE 3,324,502

STAY HINGE Filed Sept. 2, 1964 INVENTOR. CHARLES S. GIEHFUE F IE.. 3 BY3,324,592 Patented .lune I3, i967 York Filed Sept. 2, 1964, Ser. No.393,884 6 Claims. (Cl. 116-438) The invention relates to improvements instay hinges for carrying cases of the attache case type or the like. t

In one known type of stay hinge construction, as shown in Patent No.2,874,401, granted Feb. 24, 1959, a spring member is cooperativelyrelated to a hinge member so that nodes or projections on both thespring and the hinge member have to pass over one another in order thatthe hinge may be held in its open position. In another form of knownstay hinge including a spring member, as disclosed in Patent No.3,009,193, granted Nov. 21, 1961, the spring member is made with adepressed portion or notch which is adapted to receive the end or edgeof a staying member when the hinge is in fully open position. In stillanother known form of stay hinge, as disclosed in Patent No. 2,665,448,granted Jan. l2, 1954, a spring is provided with a depression or notchwhich cooperates with a member to limit the extent that the hinge may beopened.

In these prior art stay hinge constructions either substantial stress isimposed upon the spring, or the spring is related to a staying member ina manner which causes substantial wear of the engaging parts. In eithercase, there is an attendant loss of uniform operation upon repeated useof the hinge.

An object of the invention is to provide a stay hinge wherein the actionfor staying or maintaining the hinge in fully open position andintermediate positions is supplied by means including a iiat, smoothspring having its surface unbroken by notches, depressions or the liketo thereby furnish uniform staying action with minimum stress and wearof the spring and its associated parts, though the hinge is subjected tocontinued and oft-repeated opening and closing actions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stay hinge wherein aloop member is related to the hinge members and a spring in a mannerwhereby the loop member acts to both brace and stay the hinge in itsfully open position, the spring member being related to the loop memberto merely exert a light pressure suicient to maintain the rigid,non-resilient loop member in engagement with the rigid, non-resilientportion of a hinge member to thereby furnish a hinge of uniform actionfor a long life.

A further object of the invention is to provide a stay hinge the partsof which are simply and inexpensively fabricated and easily andinexpensively assembled.

These, and other objects, advantages, and improved results will beapparent from the following detailed description of a preferredembodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the drawing, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a hinge made in accordance withthe invention which is shown iixed to a lid and main body portions of acarrying case or the like, the lid and main body portions beingpartially shown and in closed condition;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the hinge shown in FIG. 1, thehinge being similarly associated with the partially shown parts of acarrying case;

FIG. 3 is also a side elevational view, this view however showing thehinge in its fully open position with the lid portion of the carryingcase stayed or resiliently maintained in such open position;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of the hinge apart from its connectionto a carrying case, this View being taken substantially in the plane ofline 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional View taken approximately in theplane of line 5-5 of FIG. 1, this view omitting the associated parts ofthe carrying case, and further showing, by the dot-dash lines, therelationship of the parts of the hinge when in fully open position; and

FIG. 6 is a greatly enlarged view showing the relationship of parts ofthe staying means when the hinge is in fully open position, the dot-dashlines showing the relationship of the parts when the top hinge memberbegins to be rotated from its fully open position toward its closedposition, or just prior to the top hinge member assuming its fully openposition.

A hinge made in accordance with the illustrated and preferred form ofthe invention comprises a top hinge member A Vand a bottom hinge memberB. The hinge members are rotatably or pivotally connected to one anotherby a transversely extending shaft or pintle C. The top hinge member isshorter in length than the bottom hinge member B. The former is adaptedto be connested to the top lid portion D and the latter to the bottommain body portion E of a carrying case of the attache case type or thelike having a structure which is well known in the art, A carrying caseis shown here only to the extent of the rear walls thereof to which thehinge mem-bers A and B are secured to their exterior surfaces. It willbe understood of course that the top lid and main body portions of thecase are hinged to one another by a pair of hinges, one of which isillustrated.

The hinge members A and B preferably are formed and related to oneanother so that they provide cooperable means for limiting or stoppingthe extent of rotation of one hinge member with respect to the other.The hinge member A comprises a base portion 1t) which provides a bottomedge 12. When the hinge member A is rotated in a countenclockwisedirection from its closed position as shown in FIGS. l, 2 and 5, theedge 12 engages the outer surface of the base portion 14 of the hingemember B at an adjoining area 16 to stop the rotation of the hingemember A in its fully open position as shown in FIG. 3. The extent ofrotation from fully closed to fully open position is approximatelydegrees. v

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the base portion 10 of the hinge member A ispreferably formed with a pair of laterally spaced, inwardly extendingdepressions 18, 18 within which are respectively situated a pair oflaterally spaced apertures 20, 20 (FIG. 4) to provide means forconnecting the hinge member to the wall of the lid member D. Thus, theheads 22, 22 of rivets having their Shanks extended through theapertures will not project above the upper surface 24 of the baseportion It); The aforementioned edge 12 is centrally located at thelower extremity of the surface 24 when the hinge is oriented as shown inthe figures of the drawing.

As shown in FIG. 4, the hinge member B is similarly formed with a pairof laterally spaced apertures 26, 26

through which are extended the 4Shanks of rivets 28, 28'

(FIG. l) to secure this hinge member to the wall of the main bodyportion E of the carrying case. Similarly, the base portion 14 of thishinge member is provided with laterally spaced depressions 30, Sti'within which the apertures 26, 26 are located so the heads of the rivetsdo not extend above the upper surface 32 of the base portion 14. Asshown in FIG. 5, the lower hinge member is provided with a thirdaperture 34 extending through the base portion 14 midway of its widthand near the lower end thereof so that a third rivet 36 (FIG. l) may beextended through such aperture to securely attach this longer hingemember to the wall E of the carrying case. A depressed area 37 isprovided to surround the aperture 34 so that the head of the rivet willnot project above the adjoining upper surface 32.

As illustrated, it is preferred that the bearings for the pintle VC beprovided by the hinge members. For this purpose, the hinge member A isprovided with a pair of laterally spaced extensions 38, 38 which arecurled around the pintle in one direction, and the hinge member B isprovided with a central extension 40 which is curled about the pintle inan opposite direction.

The hinge member A is formed at its periphery to provide an inturnedflange at the rear face thereof, except for the area adjoining thepintle C. The flange furnishes a pair of substantially parallel,longitudinally extending, laterally spaced inturned side flange portions42, 42. In the area of the pintle C, the inner walls of these ilangeportions confineV the ends of the pintle to prevent its escape. Theanges 42, 42 are provided at their upper ends with transverselyextending cutouts or bearing openings 44, 44 to provide xed axis bearingmeans at the underside of the top hinge member for a purpose to besubsequently explained.

The hinge member B also is provided at its periphery with an inturnedange except for the transverse area immediately adjacent the pintle,such flange providing substantially parallel, longitudinally extending,laterally spaced inturned side flanges 46, 46. These flanges of thehinge member B are each provided with a longitudinally extending cutoutor slot, the slots 48, 48', which provide an elongated bearingintermediate the length of the hinge member B. The slots 48, 48, whichare open to the rear of the hinge member A, terminate at their lowe-rend, or at their ends which are remote from the pintle C, in wells ornotches 50, 50. The free or exposed edges of the anges 42, 42' and 46,46 of the two hinge members, except at the slots 48, 48', lie in thesame plane `so that when the hinge members are secured to the walls of acarrying case the members abut the walls which lie in the same plane asshown in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 5, the lowermost end of the hinge member B has acentrally located tang 52 which is bent inwardly and back onto theflange portion 54 which extends transversely across the lower end of thehinge mem ber. The inner walls of the tang 52 and of the flange portion54 provide a pocket within which is received and held the end of a leafspring member F. As illustrated, it is preferred that the spring memberbe bent at its lower end to provide a substantially U-shaped portion 56so that the spring may be held and biased toward the plane of the topedges 57, 57 of the anges at their slotted areas 48, 48'. Accordingly,the plate portion 14 of the bottom hinge member is made with a matingdepression S8 on its underside which extends across the base portion atits lower end to receive the bent portion 56 of the spring. For thepurpose of symmetry and appearance, the top end of the hinge member A issimilarly formed at 59.

As shown in FIG. 4, to prevent the spring member F from shiftinglaterally, it is provided with a central notch at its lower extremity tofurnish a pair of ears 62, 62 between which the tang 52 is located. Theremainder of the leaf spring which extends for at least the length ofand between the slots 48, 48', and their respective notches 50, 50', isflat, smooth, continuous and unbroken except for an opening 64therethrough which is in alignment with the aperture 34 to allow theshank of the rivet 36 to be extended therethrough. As shown in FIG. 5,the aperture through the spring is situated below the slots and belowthe notches at the end of the slots so that, as will subsequentlyappear, the spring is functionally smooth, continuous and unbrokeninsofar as the staying and bracing means with which the spring isassociated.

To releasably maintain or stay and `brace the top hinge member A in itsfully open position, and to stay such hinge member in positionsintermediate the fully open position of FIG. 3 and the fully closedposition of FIGS. l and 2, loop means G is associated with the top andbottom hinge members A and B and the leaf spring membe-r F. The loopmeans is formed to provide trunnion means which is received in the fixedbearings 44, 44 of the hinge member A and to provide second trunnionmeans received within the elongated bearing means provided by the slots48, 48 of the hinge member B. The rst and second trunnion means arelongitudinally spaced and rigidly connected to one another, with thesecond trunnion means having the leaf spring F associated therewith.

According to the preferred form of the invention, and as shown in FIG.4, the loop means G comprises a generally U-shaped loop member formed ofwire bent to provide a transversely extending base portion 66 and a pairof parallel, laterally spaced, longitudinally extending arm portions 68,68. At the end of the loop member opposite the base portion 66, it isprovided with inturned ends 70, 70 which extend parallel to the baseportion 66. As shown, the inturned ends are laterally spaced from oneanother. For the purposes of the invention however, the inturned endsmay be extended so that they are immediately adjacent to one another.Functionally however, and to save the wire of which the loop member ismade, it is adequate that the loop member be formed as illustrated.

The inturned ends 70, 70 are positioned within the fixed axis bearingopenings provided by the cutous 44, 44' in the anges 42, 42' of the tophinge member. To facilitate connection of the loop member to the tophinge member, the circular cross-section wire of the loop member isprovided with flat areas 72, 72 at opposite sides at the inturned endsor trunnions 70, 70' to provide a reduced diameter which permits theinturned ends to clear the openings 74 leading into the bearings 44, 44the edges of which circumscribe more than a semi-circle. Thus, when thehinge member A and its bearing openings 44, 44 are oriented as shown inthe solid lines of FIG. 5, and with the flat areas 72, 72 extendinghorizontally, the trunnions 70, 70 may pass through the openings 74.When the loop member G is then rotated so that the at areas assume avertical position, the trunnions cannot escape from their lixed axisbearings in all positions which the trunnions will assume in use of thehinge.

With the trunnions 70, 70 positioned within their lixed axis bearings44, 44', the transversely extending base portion 66 of the loop memberis positioned in the longitudinally extending slots 48, 48 formed in thebottom hinge member B. As shown, the parallel, longitudinally extendingarms 68, 68 of the loop member are laterally spaced apart a distanceonly slightly greater than the width of the hinge. The length of thearms 68, 68 is such that when the hinge is in its fully closed position,the base portion 66 of the loop member is located at the top of theslots 48, 48. When the hinge is in its fully open position, as shown inFIG. 3 and in the dot-dash lines of FIG. 5, the base portion 66 ispositioned in the notches 50, 50 at the ends of the slots. In thisposition, the loop members base portion 66 bears against thehorizontally extending edges 76, 76 of the flanges 46, 46 adjacent anddening one side of the respective notches. In this position, therigidity afforded by the loop member arms 68, 68' furnishes substantialmeans in addition to the cooperating parts 12 and 16 of the hingemembers for bracing the hinge in its open position.

Throughout the travel of the base portion 66 from its position where thehinge is closed (FIG. 2) to its position where the hinge is open (FIG.3), the base portion 66 is confined or pressed against the edges 57, 57'in the slotted areas and the edges of the substantially semicircularlyformed notches by the arm 78 of the leaf spring G. The diameter of thewire used for the loop member, the thickness of the spring arm 78 andthe depth of the slots 48, 48 are selected so that with the base portion66 in its rearmost position on the hinge member, or on the edges ortracks 57, 57', the outer surface of the spring arm 78 liessubstantially in the same plane as the exposed edges of the flanges 46,46 at their unslotted areas. As a result, the spring arm is not affectedby the wall of the main body portion E of a carrying case when the hingemember B is secured thereto. Throughout the travel of the base portion66 from the top of the slots 48, 48' to its lowermost position in thenotches 50, 50', it has uninterrupted sliding movement with respect tothe smooth, linearly continuous inner surface of the spring arm 78.

When the top hinge member has been rotated to its fully open position,as shown in FIG. 3, the base portion 66 of the loop member is at thelower limit of its travel and has entered the notches 50, 50', and thearms 68, 68' have pivoted and have assumed an angular position ofapproximately 45. Due to the resilient pressure of the spring arm 78upon the base portion 66, the base portion snaps into the notches whenthe fully open position of the hinge is reached. In such fully openposition of the hinge, the major component of the pressure exerted bythe loop member is resisted by the notchs terminating edges 76, 76. Thespring is relied upon to resiliently or releasably maintain the loopmembers base portion 66 in the notches and bearing against the edges 76,76. In this relationship of the parts, the major forces are imposed uponthe solid, rigid, non-resilient wire of the loop member and of the metalof the hinge member. The stress imposed upon the spring is minimal. As aresult, repeated opening of the hinge causes little wear of the partsand uniform staying and bracing action is afforded.

Also, the pressure of the spring arm 78 against the base portion 66 onone side thereof supplies frictional engagement between the oppositeside of the base portion and the edges or tracks S7, 57. Thus, inpositions intermediate the top ends of the slots and the notches, thetop hinge member is resiliently maintained in partially open position tothe extent that an outside or manual force is required to move or changeits position With respect to the bottom hinge member.

As shown in FIG. 6, the flange edges which define each of the notches50, 50' preferably are made to furnish an angle a, herein termed theentry angle to the notches, of approximately 50 degrees. Such entryangle permits smooth entry, also exit of the loop member base portion 66into and out of the notches.

It is believed that the advantages and improved results afforded by thestay hinge of the invention will be apparent from the foregoing detaileddescription of the preferred embodiment thereof. It will be understoodthat various changes and modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as sought to be defined inthe following claims.

I claim:

1. A stay hinge for carrying cases of the attache type or the likehaving a top lid portion and a bottom main body portion, said stay hingecomprising top and bottom hinge members rotatably connected by atransversely extending pintle, transversely extending fixed axis bearingmeans provided by the top hinge member at the underside thereof, anelongated, longitudinally extending bearing provided by the bottom hingemember on the underside thereof terminating in a notch at the end of theelongated bearing remote from said pintle, loop means providing rigidlyconnected, longitudinally spaced first and second trunnion means, thefirst trunnion means being positioned in said fixed bearing means, thesecond trunnion means being positioned in and movable along saidelongated bearing and into and out of said notch upon opening andclosing of the hinge, said second trunnion means being positioned insaid notch at the fully open position of the hinge, and a flat, smoothleaf spring secured to the botto-m hinge member biased against saidsecond trunnion means, said spring extending at least the length of theelongated bearing and its notch, said second trunnion means havinguninterrupted sliding movement with respect to the spring at allpositions of such trunnion means in the elongated bearing and when thesecond trunnion means enters and leaves the notch.

2. A stay hinge as set forth in claim 1, wherein the angle of entrybetween the elongated bearing and the notch is approximately 50 degrees.

3. A stay hinge for carrying cases of the attache type or the likehaving a top lid portion and a bottom main body portion, said stay hingecomprising top and bottom hinge members each having a plate portion andsubstantially parallel, longitudinally extending, inturned side flangesat the rear face thereof, said top and bottom hinge members beingrotatably connected by a transversely extending pintle, opposite bearingopenings formed in said top hinge member side flanges providing atransverse fixed axis bearing, opposite, longitudinally extending slotsformed in said bottom hinge side flanges providing an elongated bearing,a notch in communication with each slot at the end thereof remote fromsaid pintle, a rigid loop member having a transversely extending baseportion, a pair of substantially parallel arms and a pair of inturnedtrunnions at the ends of the arms, said trunnions being positioned insaid top hinge member bearing openings, said base portion beingpositioned in and movable along said slots and into and out of saidnotches upon opening and closing of the hinge, said base portion beingpositioned in said notches at the fully open position of the hinge, anda flat, smooth leaf spring secured to the lower end of the bottom hingemember biased against said base portion, said spring extending at leastthe length of the slots and their respective notches, said base portionhaving uninterrupted sliding movement with respect to the spring at allpositions of the base portion in the slots and when the base portionenters and leaves the notches.

4. A stay hin-ge as set forth in claim 3, wherein the angle of entrybetween the slots and the notches is approximately 50 degrees.

5. A stay hinge as set forth in claim 3, wherein the notches are eachdefined by a terminating flange edge engageable by the base portion ofthe loop member whereby the loop member is braced by said flange edgesin the open position of the hinge.

6.A A stay hinge for carrying cases of the attache type or the likehaving a top lid portion and a bottom main body portion, said stay hingecomprising top and bottom hinge members each having a plate portion andsubstantially parallel, longitudinally extending inturned side flangesat the rear face thereof, said top and bottom hinge members bein-grotatably connected by a transversely extending pintle, cooperable meansprovided by the hin-ge members for stopping the rotation of the tophinge member with respect to the bottom hinge member at the fully openposition of the top hinge member, opposite bearing openings formed insaid top hinge member side flanges providing a transverse fixed axisbearing, opposite, lon-gitudinally extending slots formed in said bottomhinge side flanges providing an elongated bearing, a notch incommunication with each slot at the end thereof remote from said pintle,the angle of entry between the slots and notches being approximately 50degrees, said notches being defined by a terminating flange edge, arigid loop member havin-g a transversely extending base portion, a pairof substantially parallel arms and a pair of inturned trunnions at theends of the arms, said trunnions being posi- 7 tioned in said top hingemember bearing openings, said base portion being positioned in andmovable along said slots and into and out of said notches upon openingand closin-g of the hinge, said base portion being positioned in saidnotches and bearin-g against said terminating ange edges to additionallybrace the hinge in its fully open position, and a flat, smooth leafspring secured to the lower end of the bottom hinge me-mber biasedagainst said base portion, said spring extending at least the length ofthe .slots and their respective notches, said base portion havinguninterrupted sliding movement with respect to the spring at allpositions of the base portion in the References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 10/1912 Steiger 16-138 11/1961 Lifton 16-138 MARVIN A. CHAMPION,Primary Examiner.

10 EDWARD C. ALLEN, Examiner.

D. L. TROUTMAN, Assistant Examiner.

1. A STAY FOR CARRYING CASES OF TEH ATTACHE TYPE OR THE LIKE HAVING ATOP LID PORTION AND A BOTTOM MAIN BODY PORTION, SAID STAY HINGECOMPRISING TOP AND BOTTOM HINGE MEMBERS ROTATABLY CONNECTED BY ATRANSVERSELY EXTENDING PINTLE, TRANSVERSELY EXTENDING FIXED AXIS BEARINGMEANS PROVIDED BY THE TOP HINGE MEMBER AT THE UNDERSIDE THEREOF, ANELONGATED, LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING BEARING PROVIDED BY THE BOTTOM HINGEMEMBER ON THE UNDERSIDE THEREOF TERMINATING IN A NOTCH AT THE END OF THEELONGATED BEARING REMOTE FROM SAID PINTLE, LOOP MEANS PROVIDING RIGIDLYCONNECTED, LONGITUDINALLY SPACED FIRST AND SECOND TRUNNION MEANS, THEFIRST TRUNNION MEANS BEING POSITIONED IN SAID FIXED BEARING MEANS, THESECOND TRUNNION MEANS BEING POSITIONED IN AND MOVABLE ALONG SAIDELONGATED BEARING AND INTO AND OUT OF SAID NOTCH UPON OPENING ANDCLOSING OF THE HINGE, SAID SECOND TRUNNION MEANS BEING POSITIONED INSAID NOTCH AT THE FULLY OPEN POSITION OF THE HINGE, AND A FLAT, SMOOTHLEAF SPRING SECURED TO THE BOTTOM HINGE MEMBER BIASED AGAINST SAIDSECOND TRUNNION MEANS, SAID SPRING EXTENDING AT LEAST THE LENGTH OF THEELONGATED BEARING AND ITS NOTCH, SAID SECOND TRUNNION MEANS HAVINGUNINTERRUPTED SLIDING MOVEMENT WITH RESPECT TO THE SPRING AT ALLPOSITIONS OF SUCH TRUNNION MEANS IN THE ELONGATED BEARING AND WHEN THESECOND TRUNNION MEANS ENTERS AND LEAVES THE NOTCH.